Icon: Theda Bara

Known as the original Hollywood vamp, Theda Bara is one of the most famous completely silent film stars. Despite never having been in a “talkie” and the fact that most of her films were destroyed during a fire in 1937, Theda’s notoriety as an exotic sex symbol lives on. Perhaps it is the mystery that captures our imagination or maybe it is the studio created tale that she grew up in the Sahara Desert under the shadow of the Sphinx, which has become magnified by the multitude of photos from the now lost ‘Cleopatra.’ Either way, the pale dark-eyed beauty is one of our heroines.